National Consultant, INEC Gender Assessment at UN Women

Background

• UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
• Women’s leadership and political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work as mandated in its inception, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. Through its Leadership and Governance pillar, UN Women’s programs are guided by a history of international commitments to women’s representation. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women upholds women’s right to participate in public life, while the Beijing Platform for Action calls for removing barriers to equal participation. The Millennium Development Goals measure progress towards gender equality in part by the proportion of women in parliamentary seats.
• With funding support from the Government of Canada, UN Women is currently implementing a program to advance women’s political leadership and participation in Nigeria. Part of program intervention is to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be more inclusive. INEC is the sole authority with the constitutional mandate to prepare and conduct all public elections and referenda in Nigeria. On 25 February and 11 March 2023, voters across Nigeria casted ballots in general elections for federal positions of the president and members of the national assembly and state positions of the governor and members of state houses of assemblies.
• In order to further strengthen the leadership and participation of women in the electoral process of Nigeria as voters, candidates, observers and electoral staff, UN Women in collaboration with the INEC gender department will conduct in a participatory approach the 2023 post elections INEC gender assessment during a three days retreat of all INEC heads of departments  

Duties and Responsibilities

• UN Women seeks to engage a senior national consultant to support INEC and UN WOMEN team with the gender post electoral assessment to enhance the gender inclusivity of the commission and ensure a more inclusive electoral process.
• Specific objectives of the assignment are:
• Assist INEC in reviewing the new electoral legal and procedural framework from a gender perspective
• Discuss the challenges of women’s participation as voters, candidates and electoral staff
• Assist INEC in producing recommendations to improve INEC interventions in terms of gender and inclusivity    

Main Tasks:

• Work with the INEC gender department to identify relevant departmental and directors to participate in the assessment retreat.
• Work closely with the INEC gender and inclusivity department to build linkages with the different departments at INEC towards the gender assessment.
• Conduct consultations with key INEC staff.
• Conduct a desk review of INEC electoral processes
• Facilitate sessions during the assessment retreat
• Harmonize all findings and recommendations from the different departments of INEC participating in the assessment.
• Prepare and submit to UN Women, a report of the assessment including findings and recommendations.

Deliverables 

• Act as lead facilitator of the assessment retreat
• Compile the working groups work and data and finalize the gender assessment report
• Liaise with INEC for the validation of the document to be printed and published   

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality submission of reports  
• Analysis of secondary and primary data

Survey tools

• Presentation of findings to key stakeholders
• Engagement with INEC  

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles

• Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

Functional Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of contextual gender equality literature, women’s rights, empowerment and participation in leadership and decision making
• Sound practical knowledge of initiatives to promote women’s political participation.
• Proven experience of working on political and electoral processes and working with political stakeholders including INEC, political parties, women aspirants and candidates etc.
• Excellent research and analytical skills
• Excellent networking and communication skills
• Excellent writing and presentation skills
• Ability to break down complex information and simplify to facilitate understanding by persons with limited literacy
• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture
• Extensive experience in developing and finalizing technical documents/reports.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Social Science Research or related field (e.g., Statistics, Political Science, International Relations, Gender, Development, Communications, Public Relations) or a related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in research and data analysis.
• Demonstrated extensive knowledge of elections in Nigeria
• Proven experience facilitating and making presentations targeting high level stakeholders.
• Proven experience and evidence of having conducted previous assignments on research and data analysis.
• Proven track record of working with INEC is an asset
• Experience of working with multi-stakeholder organizations is desirable: governments, CSOs, and the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions
• Knowledge of issues related to gender equality in Nigeria is desirable
• Strong report writing and development of knowledge products 

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Excellent English writing skills is required